Nevermore
by Aria Illusine
Summary: ItaSaku drabble collection, short little oneshots between Itachi and Sakura; the great and powerful Uchiha Itachi is suffering from a bruise? There can only be one reason behind this...
1. others

Hello and welcome to a new ItaSaku drabble collection! I discovered recently that, while I've actually started quite a few ItaSaku drabbles, I've never posted a lot of them solely because I've felt that they didn't seem really developed or too short to be an actual story. So I've decided to put together a drabble collection for all those ItaSaku drabbles that have been set aside due to length and such and haven't made it here! I hope you guys enjoy them!

Drabbles will be of many genres, each given a title and a "theme" that I kind of went with while writing it.

Also, in case anyone was wondering at the title of this collection..."Quoth the raven, Nevermore". Yes, I was cliche and used Poe and the fact that Itachi uses crows/ravens for some of his jutsu...

Anyway, enjoy! I hope to upload more to this collection soon!

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters, nor am I making money off of this. I really would like to be though... XD

* * *

**theme: others (canon-ish)  
**

**Title: Kindness is for Other People**

Every inch of her body ached. Rising blearily, and unwillingly, from blissful unconsciousness, Sakura knew she had never felt so terrible in her entire life. Her arms felt leaden and heavy. But she should hardly move them to massage the life back into them; they were chained above her head, fastened to an iron ring in the wall at her back.

She came completely awake with a jolt.

Fighting the sudden rush of nausea that twisted her gut, she tried to call up her chakra reserves, only to find nothing.

She was completely dry.

With a chill slowly filtering through her veins, her aching head dredged up unwanted memories.

The ambush.

The battle.

The chakra drain.

That shark-faced Akatsuki had gleefully faced off against her, pushing her to her limit time and again in a pitched battle until, made clumsy by fatigue after several straight hours of fighting, she slipped up. His lethal blade had clipped her shoulder. The remainder of the fight had been a short struggle she could barely remember, but it left no doubt to her whereabouts now.

This was the Akatsuki headquarters.

The very thought of it made her head throb and her stomach clench sickeningly, but she couldn't let her fear and emotions get the better of her; not now. She forced it all back, taking several calming breaths to steady herself.

Right.

She and Naruto had discussed this possibility before. Her immediate duty was to recuperate and attempt an escape as soon as she was able. Any information she gathered was of secondary importance. Her first priority was getting home; she would not be used as bait.

Tired emerald eyes flickered around her surroundings, trying to see into the dungeon-esque gloom.

The walls of her prison were a dull, muted shade of some nondescript grey-brown, the room hardly larger than the one she'd had as a small child in her parents' house in Konoha. Through eyes that were still blurred from pain and the dizziness that accompanied chakra exhaustion she could make out the faded-beige cloud print that adorned the dingy walls. Bedposts were just barely visible in the chamber's gloom, shrouded in shadow in spite of the watery moonlight that spilled into the room from the clichéd, dungeon-regulation barred window near the ceiling of her cell. If she could just-,

"I wouldn't."

She clamped down on her scream before it escaped, though she couldn't stop her moan of pain when bruised and fractured ribs complained at her soft gasp.

She hadn't noticed Uchiha Itachi, sitting across from her on the tiny room's only piece of furniture and almost entirely shrouded in darkness. He had to have been there from the start, and she hadn't realized it.

Sakura hated to admit it, but she couldn't help the sudden knot of fear that suffocated even the nausea in her stomach. Cold terror threatened to engulf her momentarily, and it took a few seconds before she could push the icy feeling away. Through the entire thing, the dark-haired man had watched her with little emotion in the depths of his obsidian eyes. And that was almost more frightening than anything else in that moment.

Silence stretched out between them. He was better at it than even Sasuke; his quiet, almost unassuming, manner just filled the entire chamber until, as beaten down as she was, Sakura felt like every muscle in her body needed to _move_.

She jerked back in surprise, pain lancing through her arms and torso, when he suddenly flickered from her sight and appeared directly in front of her, a hand forcing her chin up so their eyes met.

His grip on her chin was firm, not cruel, but the obsidian eyes that perused her bruised and torn features were pitiless. She couldn't hold his gaze for long, but he continued to stare long after her exhaustion-glazed viridian orbs had shifted to the floor.

"You put up quite a fight, kunoichi," he said abruptly, startling her with the broken silence, though she didn't do much more than shift uncomfortably in her place. "As expected from the one who defeated Sasori-san at fifteen."

But she hadn't been alone. She had had Chiyo-baasan's expertise in puppetry and long experience in battle; without those she would not have survived. Battling Sasori now…she may have been able to hold her own.

Maybe.

She had certainly put up a fight against the shark-faced Kiri nuke-nin earlier. But in the four years since her battle with Sasori, she had not improved enough to defeat the other Akatsuki member.

Itachi let her stew over his statement for long moments as he watched, patient as his dark-cobalt eyes focused on her pale, injured face. At nineteen, the young kunoichi hadn't yet completely mastered the art of concealing her emotions; in the telltale flickers that passed over her features, he read fear, determination, sorrow.

Memories.

Whatever it was that had crossed her mind had both hurt her as well as steeled her for whatever she expected the Akatsuki to do to her.

He would have been amused if only there wasn't something surprisingly discomfiting about the quick flicker of defeat that had passed over her eyes.

"Why do you want me?" she asked, her voice surprisingly steady even to her own ears, though the words came out softer than she'd intended.

The Uchiha, crouching in front of her so that their faces were level, seemed almost disinclined to answer for several long moments before, with an elegant shrug of his shoulder, he replied, "You are a medic we do not have."

"And that's it," Sakura wanted to know, unable to stop the thread of incredulity from slipping into her voice. "That's all you want me for."

"It is hardly nothing. You are perhaps the most qualified field medic in all five shinobi nations, Sakura-san."

She grimaced then, and not just because he knew her name and therefore probably also all of her accomplishments as well, forcing her bound arms to mimic a shrug to express her feelings on the matter. "Tsunade-shishou-,"

"Is the current Hokage. Another matter entirely," he said, cutting her off.

"Well-,"

"Leader-sama would like to offer you a position as an Akatsuki member. Become the organization's medic."

This time even the clatter of her chains couldn't mask her hiss of surprise, and then of pain, as her head shot up, emerald eyes widening as they met unflinching obsidian. Her lips parted slightly, words coming out as barely a whisper. "You can't be serious…"

"I believe Leader-sama to be quite serious." He took in the glazed confusion in her eyes, "Such an offer will not come again."

They were so close now, barely any space between them as they sat in the darkness, shrouded by gloom. Breath mingled with breath as they spoke, and suddenly it was as though both of them had lost track of the conversation. Her aspen-leaf eyes flickered, fine-rose eyelashes coming to rest against the paleness of her cheeks.

Irresistible.

His lips were startlingly soft and gentle, sweetly coaxing as they pressed to hers and ever so slowly lowered her guard. It wasn't a forceful kiss, to dominate or control her, or a lover's lingering one. But in it was this sense of warm comfort that snuck into her soul and broke down walls until she found herself melting into his touch as though she'd known him for years and loved him better than even her own teammates. There was something familiar about him, and her senses filled with the scent, and taste, and touch of spring leaves.

Lips parted naturally, his tongue and hers sliding against one another until he was all she could taste, the pace slow as if they had all the time in the world to savor this single meeting of their souls.

And it didn't feel like betrayal, because he wasn't a captor or a clan-killer now, only another shinobi who had had to make his own, difficult, decisions during the course of his life.

Neither was out of breath when he pulled away, but there was a sort of softness between them when she met his eyes again.

"Think Leader-sama's offer over," Itachi said quietly as he got to his feet.

Though she didn't answer, the smile that curved Sakura's lips was a wry one, and Itachi knew what her answer would be.

It was only what it could be.

Nodding his acknowledgement, the dark-haired shinobi slid sinuously to the chamber door. "You understand the position you are in."

Though he had his back to her, she knew he could hear the jingle of chains and the rustle of fabric as she nodded.

He turned just a little then, and in the darkness Sakura wondered if it was really regret that she was in his eyes. "Then you know what is in store for you. You know what is necessary. Kindness, Sakura-san," he said softly, "is a luxury that can only be afforded by other people."

She waited until the door had closed between them before replying, "Yes, Itachi-san. I know."

_owari_

* * *

Yup, there you have it ^^ just a weird little drabble about Sakura getting captured by the Akatsuki and Itachi going to talk to her in her cell. Though this isn't written as part of the story (because I couldn't manage to find a way to write it in...T-T) Pein wanted Sakura as their medic, and, like Deidara, she's going to get "persuaded" to join in the end. Itachi only reasoned that perhaps it'd make more sense to get her to agree on her own so that she didn't turn into a loose cannon like the blond Akatsuki member, so this is him trying to persuade her normally. Only, he sees the kind of person she is and decides not to say anything. She wouldn't have agreed anyway.

The kiss was there because I feel like, even in that situation, there would be something surprisingly sensual about the darkness and talking to someone like Itachi when really really tired with inhibitions low due to exhaustion...

Haha okay, that's the end of my explanations, I hope you'll keep reading and not get turned off by the tone of this fic XD there WILL be fluff in the future!

The muse asks for cookies to keep her going, seems like she really needs them lately XD

Aria, out.


	2. contrast

Here's another drabble! The reason I never really uploaded this one is because it seemed too abstract in some parts, and short and confusing! Hopefully someone out there enjoys it though ^^

Disclaimer: Do I really need another reminder that I don't own them? Really? XD

* * *

**theme: contrast (non-mass)  
**

**Title: Brushstroke**

Black against white, the characters coming to existence under her touch so very familiar; she watched, almost detached from herself as each one was completed.

The sable tip of the brush slid wetly against rice paper, leaving behind it a jet-black wake.

The colors were almost like them, more so today than any other.

Chancing a glance to her side, she almost smiled, and caught herself before she ruined the ceremonial aura that surrounded them both, as she took in his appearance. It wasn't very often that she got to see Itachi in formal clothing.

He was wearing a black _haori_, the formal jacket-like garment worn over his traditional attire, with the Uchiha clan symbol on the back, the color of it subtly blending into the dark-cobalt fabric of his silk _kimono_. Only the _nagajuban_ under-robe he wore really drew her eyes, white against all the darkness. Even the color of his pleated _hakama_ pants were subdued, a quiet grey that somehow accented the darker colors of his formal attire.

"Sakura."

Her eyes flickered up to his in surprise, and a rose tint slowly painted her cheeks as she finally let a tiny smile grace her lips. The sound of her name was hardly a reprimand, but it reminded her clearly of the temperament of the man beside her. Though he didn't look it, Itachi had shown her on more than one occasion that he could be surprisingly impatient in some respects.

"Lost in thought, Sakura?"

"Mmm, sorry, Itachi," she replied. "It's just…a big moment."

"I do not wish to rush you," the dark-haired ANBU murmured, his voice barely more than a whisper, "But…"

Sakura's viridian eyes flickered, a vague hint of amusement though she didn't say a word. He never admitted to it but she knew that her utterly infallible male could get surprisingly touchy about her.

You'd think…

Sakura suppressed the urge to either giggle or roll her eyes, but finished the last character with alacrity.

"I am aware that you wish to laugh," he said, but she could hear the amusement in his voice.

"Itachi," her eyes held his when she half-turned to face him, radiating seriousness though a soft smile played about her lips. "I will not, will _never_, leave you. No matter what, you are never to believe that."

He leaned forward to brush his lips against her forehead, winning him a soft laugh. "I don't. I was merely…antsy for this formality to be done."

"Is that what you think of this as?" Sakura asked, though the curve of her lips said she was laughing on the inside, "A formality?"

A soft growl was all the warning she got before, with speed to rival his cousin whose moniker was the Body Flicker, his lips were against hers in a warm but possessive kiss.

"I will never think of this as a formality, Sakura," he told her when he finally pulled away.

She was breathless but still managed to smile when their kiss ended. "You'd better not," she admonished, glancing down at the rice paper to brush her fingertips against the now-dry ink that made up her name…right beside his. "I wouldn't have married you if you thought that."

She was well and truly his now, and she wouldn't have it any other way. Once more she slid her fingers across the characters.

Uchiha Sakura.

_owari

* * *

_

I started this going in one direction...and somehow changed direction WITHIN 200 WORDS! Sometimes it amazes me how scatterbrained my mind really is...

Please leave the muse a few cookies to cheer her up ^^; she seems kinda down with this over (I think she's not as happy with this as she'd have liked...)

Aria, out.


	3. scare

This idea was actually rolling around in my head for quite a while, and it used to be a KakaSaku, but I like how it turned out. I hope this one's to your guys' liking and thank you for the reviews! Please forgive me for putting Itachi through all this XD

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Not miiiine...sigh.

* * *

**theme: scare (non-mass)  
**

**Title: Taking the Plunge**

"I'm going to train."

Nurses, other medics, even patients practically scampered out of the way as the rosy-headed woman strode through the halls, the heels of her boots clicking with frightening finality against the hospital floors. When Sakura was in that kind of mood, it was best just to get out of her way and wait until she came back half an hour later, in a much more cheerful frame of mind. No one at the hospital really knew what she did, but it didn't take very long.

People had started a betting pool about what it could possibly be.

As far as Sakura herself knew, none of them had guessed right.

The woman kept her cool until she was outside the hospital, and then quickly teleported away as fast as her hands could form the proper seals.

The forest enveloped her in no time.

"Mmm." The quiet sigh of contentment followed by a slow smile was Sakura's only sign of her relaxation as she stepped out to the edge of the cliff she had traveled to.

What she did was not for someone who didn't have her excellent chakra control, and even a qualified field medic wouldn't be assured to come out of her "training" unscathed.

She glanced out over the edge of the cliff, down to the deep lake many feet below, and smiled.

…

"Is Sakura-san in her office?"

If Shizune was surprised to find the heir of the Uchiha clan inquiring after the Hokage's other student, she didn't show it in anything more than a slight widening of her dark eyes. "She isn't," she replied with a casual shrug of her shoulder, "She's gone for a quick half-hour training session." Dark chocolate eyes barely resisted the temptation to roll. "Again."

It was obvious to Itachi that Shizune was…upset…about Sakura's departure, though at the moment he was a little more concerned about the fact that the rose-haired girl he had come to see was not, in fact, in attendance. The last thing he had wanted was to have to come to speak to her again, especially as such actions would most definitely raise questions that he did not wish to have to answer just yet, but Shizune's irritated gaze said that perhaps a more proactive approach was required.

"I will inform her of the need to return," was his concession to the head medic's mood, and then he was out of the hospital before Shizune could unload whatever upset she had. Though she and Sakura were like sisters, the two of them had very definitive ways of expressing their unhappiness. Shizune needed to vent, and Sakura disappeared for short whiles to return in better moods.

Itachi only wanted to deal with one of those at the moment, and the rose-haired girl won out.

Following the trail of her chakra, noting as he did that she had used the teleportation jutsu modification that his cousin Shisui had taught her several months ago, he disappeared in a poof of smoke after her.

He reappeared in the last place he had expected to be.

When had Sakura taken to training on the cliffs?

He was still somewhere in the forest, but the trees were thinner in front of him, and it was the work of a few moments to step out into the clearing.

It was much closer to the cliff edge than he'd expected.

Forest gave way to grass and then dry, rocky stone, and on the very edge of the outcropping was the person he had been expecting to find at the Konoha General Hospital, with her back to the precipice and her pretty, green eyes closed.

Eyes that flew open at the sound of his step.

A look of shock crossed her delicate elfin features, but he only saw it for a moment because, with a jolt brought on by surprise, she lost her footing and plummeted out of sight.

"_Sakura!_"

…

He was at the cliff face in an instant, ready to dive off and somehow rescue her from the death-defying fall she was in, but a glance down below showed him that, strangely, she seemed utterly unafraid.

Almost as though she'd done this before.

And as he watched Sakura began to glow with sparks of chakra against every inch of her body. It was the same principle as walking on water by pushing chakra to the bottoms of the feet to create extra surface tension; it was definitely harder to do when falling, but Sakura was succeeding, slowing her fall as she radiated chakra against the air molecules around her. When she hit the surface of the water, it was as if the lake was somehow made of jello; it dipped under the force of the impact, billowing outward, and then pushed back and shot her up into the air again. When she came down a second time, it was lightly, not even leaving a ripple to the lake surface.

It took only a few seconds for her to perform the teleportation jutsu a second time, and scaled the cliff face in a few more.

"Itachi-san! I'm so sorry," were the first words out of her mouth, her cheeks flushed with adrenaline and the last vestiges of her surprise at being discovered. "I-I didn't…"

Itachi prided himself for being levelheaded in any crisis sent his way. Yet the sight of the girl who had made her mark on his life, first as Sasuke's teammate, then as an invaluable field medic during ANBU missions, and finally as a good friend, plummeting over the edge of a cliff had shaken him in a way not even his worst orders from Hokage tower had.

It made him realize just how she had ingrained herself into his thoughts, and gotten under his skin.

As Sakura, cheeks still tinted pink from her fall, hastily tried to explain exactly what she had been doing, the need to make sure that, yes, she was in fact okay overwhelmed him.

He had only a moment to see her limpid emerald eyes widen in surprise as his hand closed over her wrist, and then she was in his arms and stiff as a board as he held her close.

To Sakura, it felt like the entire world had slipped sideways off its axis, dropping her into an alternate universe, because that was the only place she knew where Uchiha Itachi, ANBU captain extraordinaire, impulsively made decisions like hugging her. Uncertain of what to think, her own feelings in an insane uproar, she just…stood there, with one of his arms around her waist and the other slowly sliding up her back to cradle the back of her neck as her heart pounded in her ears.

Through layers of cloth she could feel the steady beat of his heart, except that it was faster than usual, and suddenly, she knew.

Itachi, unshakable and levelheaded Itachi, had been afraid.

The knowledge made her melt against him, her arms wrapping around him too as she silently comforted the male, feeling achingly apologetic at the feelings she had caused. She hadn't meant to do so, and that he could feel that way about her told her volumes about the closeness of the friendship that they had developed over the years. _That_ thought settled in her stomach with all the warmth of a swallow of hot chocolate on a wintry evening.

It wasn't until Itachi's heartbeat had once more slowed to its normal rate that Sakura pulled away to give her friend a soft smile. "Was there any particular reason you came here for me?"

"Tsunade-sama asked me to inform you that we leave on a mission tomorrow morning. It's classified ANBU," he added, answering the silent question in her eyes as they settled down to business, noting with a flare of pride and _something else he hadn't ever really given thought to until he'd seen her fall back into empty air_ that Sakura's response was a nod of understanding; classified ANBU missions meant that even mission scrolls were out of the question to keep a paper trail from forming.

"I will see you then, Itachi-taishou," Sakura said, using his field-title now in deference to the mission they would soon be on.

He nodded, though he would be seeing her before then if he had any say in the matter. She would be free after her hospital shift and possibly in favor of grabbing a bite to eat with him.

Though Sasuke might have issues with Itachi's sudden and hitherto unknown regard for the rose-haired girl, the family would have no problem accepting his desire to make an alliance with the woman who was the Godaime's prized apprentice. And Itachi himself would not stand for even his dear otouto disputing him in his attempt to make Sakura his.

His feelings, now realized, would not be denied.

_owari_

* * *

I think my muse needs finals stress to work! I don't seem to be anywhere near as prolific now as I was then...it's actually kind of sad. Should I start reading my textbooks again? If I pretend to study maybe my muse will try to distract me...^^;

Well, hopefully it isn't TOO bad...your reviews do fuel the muse though! As do the cookies she's always craving...dessert-minded thing XD

Aria, out.


	4. lonely

Hahaha so this is actually NOT what I planned to put up for Nevermore chapter four...but it kind of wrote itself over the last two days! So I went with it. Has anyone noticed a dearth (lack) of kisses in my ItaSaku drabbles? I HAVE! I think I'll contrive to put one in the next drabble...or possibly any of the other fics I might be putting out if only the muse would get her butt in gear...

Anyway, hopefully you guys enjoy this cute, funny little thing!

Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine...

* * *

**theme: lonely (non-mass)**

**Title: Through an Open Window**

"Day…eleven?"

Sakura sighed and frowned at the moonlit vista of the village, feeling more than a little irritated at herself. When was the last time she'd been this…this _silly_?

"At age thirteen, with his brother," Sakura told herself with a wry twist of her lips. "What _is_ it with me and Uchiha boys?"

It was a question people across the shinobi nations asked themselves, though perhaps not with the same sort of sentiment as she did. After all, Uchiha were renowned as some of the deadliest shinobi in the world with their katon techniques and Sharingan. It was only women (and yes, occasionally men too) in Konoha that generally found romantic reasons to be interested in the dark-haired men of the family.

And Sakura thought, occasionally and when the mood took her, that she had more reason than most to feel so.

She'd had a rather obsessive crush on Sasuke during her pre-genin and genin years until a wake-up call in the form of a mission that put her into the hospital for a month (and, she found out later, had almost put her in a coffin had it not been for the timely arrival of Konoha's new Godaime Hokage a week before her mission) had forced her to realize that, between Sasuke and her life, she'd choose life. The relationship they had now was all the better for the lack of romance between them.

Itachi on the other hand…

"Is the current problem," Sakura groaned, finishing her own thought as she fixed her aspen-leaf eyes trained on the moon outside her open window.

He had just been "Sasuke's older brother" most of her life…until a few weeks after her sixteenth birthday when she had been called in as part of the emergency medic team needed to perform a very tricky, touch-and-go surgery on an ANBU.

She hadn't known until later that the ANBU operative whom she had kept from death was Sasuke's cousin Shisui, and Itachi's best friend.

Even now, nearly two and a half years later, her cheeks still heated when she recalled the emotion in Itachi's deep-cobalt eyes as he had quietly thanked her for saving his cousin's life the next day. To someone else, it would have seemed like the concern of a friend and family member, but Sakura had been well accustomed to the nuances of Uchiha behavior by then.

She could tell how relieved Itachi had been, the look in his eyes the equivalent of someone as vocal as Kiba having an emotional breakdown.

He still occasionally stopped by her office at the hospital to say hello on his way to visiting injured teammates, and had shared a few good conversations with they ran into each other at teashops by chance.

"And now it's been eleven days since he left on that solo mission, not that I have any reason to keep couth," Sakura muttered as she finally turned away from her open window and slipped into bed. She was not counting down the days until Itachi's two-week mission was up; not at all.

"I hate being this…_silly_," she mumbled as her eyes finally fluttered closed.

…

It was…kind of warm. Comfortable. She couldn't recall having closed her bedroom window before falling asleep though, the early autumn nights being rather warm of late.

With a sigh, she rolled over towards the warmth at her side…and shot up into a defensive crouch at the touch and scent of a male.

Moonlight from her still-open window spilled into her room, illuminating the deep-cobalt eyes of one Uchiha Itachi, casually remaining seated on her bedside in spite of her sudden wakefulness.

She gaped in surprise, her emerald eyes widening as she tried to understand (with a mind still sluggish from sleep) just what Sasuke's brother was doing in her bedroom. Or even in Konoha. He wasn't due back until that Friday.

"I-Itachi-san? Is something wrong?" she asked, her gaze sweeping over him to check for any obvious injuries.

But there didn't seem to be any marks on him, no bloody gashes or pained looks, not even any large bruises, which begged the question of why he was here.

"Itachi-san?"

"Even in the confines of the village, it is not so safe to keep one's bedroom window open."

At this, Sakura's lips parted, her jaw dropping in utter surprise. She could hardly believe that the Uchiha heir who had just now returned from a solo mission (rather earlier than expected, too) would really be stopping by at her apartment at some bizarre hour before dawn to teach her the dangers of not keeping a window closed and locked. Her viridian eyes slowly narrowed as she let herself relax from the defensive crouch to a cross-legged seat on her bed. Considering the flimsiness of his excuse, she felt a little suspicious wondering why he was _really_ here.

"I doubt someone will stage an attack on the village tonight, and I think I would have woken up if they had."

"You did not awake when I came," was his bland response.

A tiny frown furrowed Sakura's brow, even as a part of her silently thrilled at the fact that Itachi was back in Konoha, obviously unharmed, and unexpectedly playing guest at her apartment.

"Your chakra signature is familiar to me; I would have woken up if you were someone I didn't know," she reasoned in reply, rubbing a hand across her eyes as she forced back her sleepiness to better face her nighttime intruder. "Seriously, Itachi-san, why are you really here?"

The petite, rosy-headed medic was obviously losing her patience; it was actually rather adorable considering she seemed to be struggling against her body's need to sleep to politely deal with him, her unexpected guest. Had he been a little less polite himself, he would have succumbed to the temptation to capitalize on both her exhaustion and the resulting loss of reserve due to the former. It would have been just one more capitulation on his part, after all. Hadn't he already snuck into her room in the dead of night?

Still, it had been impossible to resist, and he _had_ started off with the best of intentions.

Famous last words, indeed, considering what the path to hell was rumored to be cobbled with.

But, with all the consideration of a friend, who aspired to one day be more to the petal-haired girl than that, he had noted her open window on his way home from reporting to ANBU headquarters and gone to close it for her. Autumn nights were warm enough, but it got chilly right before dawn and could leave the room's occupant with an unnecessary sore throat the next morning.

And at her window he had caught sight of her, bathed half in moonlight and half in shadow, with long lashes resting delicately on smooth cheeks, her hair splayed out over her pillow, and his first thought wasn't that the vision was titillating but rather…romantic.

It was that strange-and-getting-more-prominent-by-the-day feeling he had when he saw her; that somehow inexorable need to have her by him.

He had found himself sitting on the edge of her bed with his fingers skimming the ends of her pink tresses without realizing it, or even consciously meaning to.

Around her he felt so much at peace, and without her…there was that tightness in his chest that reminded him of the circumstances under which they'd met. Hard to believe as it was, without her by him, living in that strange uncertainty of feelings gone too long unacknowledged until there was always a low hum of tension wondering if someday she would be wholly out of his reach and someone else's made him feel the same kind of dull fear that had gripped him the night he had believed his best friend might not make it off the operating table alive.

It was confusion, bewilderment, and loneliness, all prompting this unwarranted visit at three in the morning.

Words that begged to be said slipped out before his rational mind, or even just an instinct for emotional self-preservation, could stop him. "I wanted to see you."

And then he was gone, out the window that had started it all, like a flicker of shadow and leaving behind him a bewildered and blushing Sakura alone in her dark apartment with no idea how close she had gotten to being kissed.

_owari

* * *

_Yeah, see? Look at that! No kiss! I'll remember to put one in the next one...XD Sorry about how confusingly long-winded Itachi was. I think he was feeling in a rather introspective mood this morning...oh and check out the nice new poll on my profile please ^^

The muse says she definitely likes reviews, and I thank you for your indulgence in reading my stories!

Aria, out.


	5. found

It's another drabble to add to the Nevermore collection! I've always wanted to write at least one fic in the rain, and I haven't yet managed until now! I really do like this one, though I'm not quite sure where it came from. And now, I must go grocery shopping! ^^ Please do enjoy! And thank you to all my lovely reviewers who have been supporting the Nevermore collection! Here's to many more drabbles to come!

Disclaimer: I really do wish I owned Naruto...really...really...really...

* * *

**theme: found (non-mass)  
**

**Title: Under the Rain-Soaked Sky**

"Great. Just the perfect cherry to place on my oh-so-wonderful sundae of a day," Sakura growled sarcastically, her jade eyes narrowing in annoyance as she surveyed the dark, stormy village beyond Konoha General Hospital's transparent double doors.

Rain like a torrential waterfall poured down from the night sky like some kami's angry wrath, the roar of droplets hitting the pavement so much watery artillery. As far as she could see in the poor lighting outside, puddles of massive proportions turned the ground into a range of pitfalls.

The nineteen-year-old suppressed the urge to cry angry, frustrated tears. The morning had been so _clear!_

But this really was just one more unfortunate event in a long, unnecessary string of them today. After too many surgeries, not enough food, a heated argument with the head nurse on hospital bureaucracies, and five hours of mind-numbing paperwork, walking home in the rain without an umbrella was getting more and more like the straw that had broken the camel's back.

It gave her too much time to think of Itachi.

The kunoichi grimaced as his very name set her gut clenching unpleasantly, and stepped resolutely out into the inclement weather in a futile hope of erasing the thought from her mind.

It didn't help.

"Stupid Uchiha," she muttered, ducking her head as she set off down the streets at a brisk pace towards home. "Last thing I want on my mind."

But the thought of him refused to leave her mind, only growing more insistent as she hurried down the drenched and deserted street.

It had been a month and a half since she'd last seen him; since he'd left on that recon mission. She never liked it when people close to her had long missions, but this time had been…almost the worst.

She could still remember the cryptic last words Itachi had said to her the night before his departure.

_"Wait for me."_

"What does that even mean?" Sakura asked the stormy night sky, frustration evident in every line of her body. She could still remember his lips brushing her cheek as he whispered those words and disappeared in a flurry of smoke and leaves.

Now, six weeks later, Sakura felt she was being driven mad. She didn't know exactly when Itachi would get back, his words kept ringing through her head, and the rain had her drenched to the skin.

"I don't…"

She liked him. She had known she did for months now. And she had thought that maybe, just maybe, her feelings were reciprocated. But when he left with confusing last words and strangely intimate gestures…

"Sakura."

She gasped as his familiar chakra slid over her like a physical touch. She didn't need the white glow of the streetlight to inform her of where he stood. She would have known even when blindfolded in utter darkness.

Raindrops splashed over her suddenly warm cheeks.

He was still dressed in ANBU black and silver, the porcelain mask doing nothing to shield his hair from the rain. In the white light streaming from the streetlamp, his eyes flickered crimson to obsidian and back. The lines that marked his aristocratic features were deeper than she remembered, his expression serious but strangely composed.

Like a moth to the flame she approached him until they stood almost nose-to-nose. And this proximity felt…natural to her.

Like _home._

His crimson eyes met her clear, emerald gaze.

"You waited," he breathed, and bent down to capture her lips with his.

She wasn't quite sure what he meant by those words any more than she had understood his parting remark. But her mind was too blurred with the pleasure of the kiss to really think straight, her heart singing with the _rightness_ of the feeling that kissing Itachi evoked. She was no longer so very confused, so very lost.

This was where she belonged.

As she struggled to draw breath as he slipped his tongue past her lips to slide sensually against hers, she breathed in his comforting scent of rain and new leaves. Even under the water and mud and sweat on him, Itachi's unique scent made her moan into his mouth as he teased her with light flights of his tongue.

She ought to have realized that they were both soaked through as his gauntleted hands slid up her back and pulled her flush against his own drenched body. But health or umbrellas were the last things on her mind as her arms came up to loop around his neck.

It wasn't until after she broke free to catch her breath that she managed to ask him what he'd meant earlier.

"You…are a well-loved woman, Sakura," he told her when he finally recalled what she was referring to. "I did not know if you would be unattached when I returned."

"You didn't bother asking if I was before you kissed me," Sakura murmured, the corner of her lips tilting upward when Itachi's hands on her waist tightened.

"You are not," he said with an air of finality. "A man involved with you would never leave you to go home alone on such a rainy day."

She laughed then, the sound more due to how self-assured he sounded more than anything else. He had been just like her. Just as uncertain, as surprising as the thought was in conjunction to _the_ Uchiha Itachi. Just as lost.

"Not any more," the rosy-haired girl whispered.

Itachi's eyes flickered with a mild question, but she erased it from his mind with a sweet smile as she pulled him down for another kiss.

_owari

* * *

_

A bit on the cheesy side, yes, but I'm glad I managed to squeeze in a kiss ^^ I probably could have done a better job but I was watching TV at the time and was really really tired XD I'll do better next time! On the other hand, I'm going to try to keep putting Nevermore drabbles out as often as possible! Let's be happy the writing muse is deigning to give me a few minutes of her time...and maybe she'll try to stay with me longer! We hope...

Remember, the muse will probably spend more time with me if she's happily filled with cookies and reviews, and if you can fave the fic, please drop me a line ^^

Aria, out.


	6. pick

Hello everyone! There was no rhyme, nor reason, for this fic, but it wrote itself while I was in the shower and I jotted it down as quick as the words would come. It was just meant to be funny, and it's actually not all that romantic, but I may use this setting for a longer fic if the mood hits me. On the topic of longer fics, I AM going to try to upload at least one chapter of every chapter fic I've got going right now ^^

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I can claim nothing but Shizuka Kain, who was my own invention. Cryptography professor from Suna...hehehe.

* * *

**theme: pick (modern AU)  
**

**Title: Detective Uchiha**

When Shizuka Kain, Suna University's best cryptography professor on holiday, entered the bullpen of the Konoha Metropolitan Police Department that evening, he hadn't been expecting the surprise he got.

"I'm looking for a Detective Uchiha?"

"Which one?" a messy-haired blond grumbled, cerulean eyes looking like they wanted to roll as five sixths of the Evening Shift got to their feet.

"We have Senior Detective Itachi Uchiha over here," he pointed, none to politely, to the man with dark hair that was pulled back into an understated tail, "and his partner and cousin, Detective Shisui Uchiha, the resident police dog handler."

The man beside the senior detective, his hair a wavy mess, gave Kain a companionable wave.

"Over here we have Agent Detective Hatake-Uchiha Kakashi, on loan from the FBI. Not born an Uchiha," the blond confided in the cryptographer wryly as he motioned to a silver-haired man with a bit of a slouch and an eye-patch over one eye, "but adopted after the fact. His partner is newly-promoted Detective Uchiha Sakura, the Senior Detective's wife and former Medical Examiner, the woman with the bubble-gum pink hair over there."

"And of course," the blond added, "There's my partner, Detective Uchiha Sasuke, related to the rest of the Detective Uchihas by blood, marriage, and/or adoption. Which was it you wanted?"

It took Kain a moment to realize he was being asked a question, and turned his attention back to the package in his hands. "Uh…um…that would be the, uh, Senior Detective?"

"Thank you, this way please," the senior detective said calmly, motioning for Kain to move into one of the interrogation rooms.

As the cryptography professor entered into the soundproof room, Itachi glanced over his shoulder, his dark gaze meeting his wife's with a flash of amusement. "Muzzle your best friend or I will consider putting him on probation."

Sakura crumpled up her newspaper from that afternoon before her shift with practiced ease, and hit Naruto on the back of the head without even looking up from her report. "Best of luck getting something good out of him, dear," she said laconically as she crossed a T.

"Thank you, Detective," Itachi said, slipping into the interrogation room and shutting the door behind him.

_owari_

* * *

Short, wasn't it! I hope you liked it anyway, and if you did enjoy it, please show your appreciation to the muse by feeding her with cookies and reviews!

Aria, out.


	7. watch

This is slightly different from my usual drabbles! It's in first person, and it's a retelling of a fairy tale ^^ I know you guys can guess which one it is in no time at all! And, please congratulate my lovely new beta Third Time Charm, who helped make this so much better than it was when it started off! I made a little addition that explains that thing...and thanks so much, I hope this is the start of a wonderful working relationship!

Beta: Third Time Charm

Disclaimer: It's not mine! Stop reminding meeeee! -sob- I don't own Naruto, and the inspiration to this was the manga, Crimson-Shell.

* * *

**theme: watch (AU)**

**Title: To Look Into Her Eyes**

A princess sleeps here.

I have heard this tale many times since my birth, in the whispers of villagers as they pass by this place and look at the brambles and say to each other that a princess sleeps here.

There were four wizards, four _Hokage_, who came to her on the day she was christened. The first gave her strength unrivaled, the second a talent for the healing arts. The third, though, saved her life.

I have never been told who, or what, tried to kill her at her christening. Those who pass by the palace and its thorns never seem to know; perhaps it is because none of them were here that day. Instead, I have heard them speak many times of how the third Hokage, with his powers, changed the curse of death upon her into one of a hundred years of sleep, to rise to a fated kiss when the years were spent.

It was the fourth who created me.

I was born, or perhaps it is more accurate to say I was _made_, to protect her, to watch over her. To guard her.

I am the thorns that keep this palace closed, the briers that tear at would-be suitors trying to force an entrance. To say I am jealous of them would be too mild a way of putting it. I am jealous of them all. Whether they lose their lives to the brambles or not, I am jealous, because there will be a day, a day _not far from today_, when the time will be right.

One of them will pass by my guards like they do not exist.

He will walk through the courtyards and great halls and silent walkways of this place and see the sleepers everywhere. He will find the door to the tallest tour and, in the room at its very pinnacle, find the one I watch endlessly.

He is not yet born and still I hate him.

Because he will wake her and her sleep will be ended.

I know that my life is tied to her slumber. The day she wakes will be the day I die. The opening of those eyes of hers, which I have never seen, will be my death sentence. And yet that is not the reason I would hate the one who will eventually arrive. I hate him because she will open her eyes and see him and _love him_.

Love him and not me.

But even though part of me wishes I could put that day off for forever, keep her with me for as long as sleep sustains her, I wish for her wakefulness even more.

I want to see the color of her eyes.

I want to see the color that I haven't seen in all my seventy-nine years of existence as an unchanging simulacrum by her bedside.

She will open those eyes and see me, and know me, and that is all my heart can ask for.

The chance to look into her eyes.

_owari

* * *

_Sleeping Beauty! Perhaps not my favorite fairy tale ever...but I was inspired to write this after reading the Crimson-Shell manga and I definitely recommend it! ^^

Please feed the muse happy reviews and cookies if you enjoyed this fic, and I'll be doing my best to write my chapter fics!

Aria, out.


	8. parents

Hi everyone! It's been a while hasn't it! ^^; Sorry about the delay. It's been a busy summer and I've had the worst writer's block since I started writing Naruto fanfiction, so please forgive if this piece is a bit...unfinished. I wish it was better but the idea kind of came to me and I was so desperate for my muse to come back that I seized this with both hands and forced my tired brain to work for me ^^ hope it's to your guys' liking!

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me...which is kinda sad...

* * *

**theme: parents**

**Title: A Novel Experience**

She was nervous.

Sakura had no problem admitting it, at least to herself. The Uchiha was an intimidating clan that comprised of much of Konoha's internal police force, a fair portion of the village's active ANBU roster, and all but one of the Sharingan users in the Five Great Shinobi Nations.

And she; lowly, clan-less, jounin field medic; was standing in front of the clan compound as tense though she was performing on-the-go healing on a battlefield under fire.

"You really don't need to feel this way," Sakura told herself, trying to work up confidence as she faced the front gate with her aspen-leaf eyes sparking determination she didn't entirely feel. "You've been here a ton of times before."

She had been, at first because of her childhood crush on Sasuke and then when they and Naruto chose to use the extensive Uchiha facilities to train, but not on such terms.

"It's just your average, regular, say-hello-to-the-parents kind of deal…it's just Fugaku-san and Mikoto-san. You've seen them plenty of times."

The rose-haired girl nibbled her bottom lip nervously and made a face. "_But not like this!_" she added with a rather uncharacteristic whimper of discomfort.

"Sakura?"

She jumped, swiveling around as her traitorous cheeks colored. "Itachi! Um…hi."

Her face went even pinker than her hair as she mentally grimaced at her lack of verbal coherency.

"Sakura, why are you standing outside the compound instead of going inside?" the sable-haired Uchiha asked as he slipped past her to push open the gate then paused, courteously holding it for her.

But she didn't move, absolutely still as she stood in front of the Uchiha grounds with her face now growing pale.

"Sakura?"

"We're going to see your parents," she said in a terse voice, her jade eyes reflecting her unease. "It's a…a big step."

At her words, delivered in such a faint tone that he almost hadn't caught them, the male hid a small, affectionate smile. His Sakura was brave when it came to blood, guts, and battle, but facing his parents in this kind of a situation terrified her.

"Otou-san and Okaa-san both love you," he reassured her, letting the gate go as he came back out to gently draw Sakura into his arms. "They both love you. As do I."

The medic blushed and smiled up at him.

It wasn't the first time he'd said such words to her, but she hadn't yet gotten tired of hearing them.

She instinctively threaded her fingers through Itachi's and sighed, "Okay. I can face them now."

"Good," Itachi told her as he led the way into the compound, "because I wish to introduce my parents to the woman who will be my future wife."

"Fine," Sakura agreed as calmly as she could, right before her lips quirked into a mischievous grin that would have made her fiancé feel a tad disquieted if he could have seen it. "But this means _you're_ coming to meet _my_ parents next Thursday."

_owari_

* * *

Yup, that's it! Short, I know, but hopefully this will jump-start my muse and get her back from her month-long-and-more vacation and I'll have more chapters to offer up later ^^

Thanks for reading and please do review. Those things fuel the muse to greater creativity! ^^

Aria, out.


	9. taking

Hey look at that! Another update! I was actually going to write the companion piece to "parents" on Itachi's thoughts on meeting Sakura's parents, but I was reading Hana to Akuma and this idea appeared and just...popped out. It probably took me a total of 10 minutes writing time. It's written in Sakura's first person, but I'm prouder to offer this piece up than yesterday's ^^ please enjoy!

Disclaimer: The usual. Not mine.

* * *

**theme: taking**

**Title: The Dark Resides**

The first time I saw him drink the blood of a human, I was sixteen and he was wrapped around a blonde with hair like sunlight that spilled down her back in disarray as he drank until her golden skin was frighteningly pale.

I saw his dark, velvety eyes flicker to me in the half-light gloom, their depths filling with crimson.

And then I did the only sensible thing.

I fled.

But the memory of that evening haunted me. When I closed my eyes I could see every detail of tree and leaf and grass and pale, sable-haired male staring at me over some woman's bare shoulder and looking as though bored with the whole ordeal.

I got the distinct impression that my sudden appearance through the usually-quite-deserted forest had been more interesting to him that the beautiful woman whose blood he was sampling, and that thought (thought strangely terrifying) wouldn't leave me. It slowly filled me like an obsession until I found myself wandering back through that same forest whenever I could.

Was I begging to meet the same fate as the blonde I'd seen that first night? I did not even know her actual fate, whether she lived or died, only that he had drunk her blood. But did I want to share in that? Have my blood taken from me by the lips of a demon? A vampire?

I didn't even know what he was.

I saw him several more times over the next three years, sometimes alone, more often with another woman, though never the same woman twice. But each time, even if he was with someone else, his gaze would find mine and I would again feel as though he was…bored.

A creature of the night, drinking blood, and feeling bored.

Why that didn't fill me with terror, I cannot say.

I have always been different than most though, with a persistent personality. So I continued to frequent those woods.

It was inevitable, I think, that one night I would come across him and he would approach me.

Without words he stepped towards me, and I to him as if I couldn't help but draw near, until we were so close I had to look up to see the darkness of his eyes. They were not crimson; he had not yet drunk.

"Knowing what I do, why do you keep coming here?" he asked in a voice that reminded me at once of velvet and winter.

"I was…curious."

He made a noise in the back of his throat that made me blush warmly; he was laughing so subtly that it was almost worse than if he had just done it outright. But he seemed to be satisfied with my answer and, almost _affectionately_ drew me into his arms.

I could hear the flutter of my own heartbeat loud in my ears, but I was absolutely still as he lowered his lips to my neck and I felt the coolness of his breath before the bite.

As my hands suddenly clenched into his dark, silken vest over the crisp, white shirt he wore, I knew there was no going back. It was either death or something else at the end of this strange journey I'd made, but I was in his arms and I didn't want to leave them and I was curiously _aware_ that he thought the same.

The pain that I'd felt as his fangs penetrated my throat turned sweetly to a pleasure that made me lightheaded and faint. I was growing colder, but he held me tight as he grew warmer and warmer against me and I sighed in quiet ecstasy. It all went out of focus, then back in, then clearer still until I was hyper aware of all that was around me, especially the male whose body pressed against my own.

I am a strange girl, to court death and danger, but in this equally strange person's arms, for once, I finally felt at home.

_owari_

* * *

Does she live? Does she die? A question left to your imaginations ^^ I hope this piece was enjoyable! I'll do my best to keep my muse happily occupied, but she does love your guys' reviews and cookies (and thanks you for any and all you send her way) so please keep her fueled up by choosing to review!

Much obliged, of course!

Aria, out.


	10. reaction

If I beg and plead for forgiveness, will I get any? I'm soooooo sorry that I haven't uploaded anything in MONTHS, life kind of got in the way. Being a senior in college does that to you sometimes ^^; (good grief, I remember celebrating my last birthday with a fanfic and that was over a year ago...) so please accept this humble peace offering! My other fics have NOT been forgotten, life has just made it very hard to write consistently. Oh my poor fanfics, what will be done with you...

Disclaimer: I do not own a thing, though if I did it'd be awesome... Forgot to add that I got the idea for this piece after reading a Draco/Ginny oneshot the title of which I can no longer recall (my apologies).

* * *

**theme: reaction**

**Title: Just Done**

"That's quite a bruise."

"Hn," was the only response he dignified _that_ statement with. He was an ANBU captain. Bruises were part of life. In fact, if bruises were all he got out of a particularly heated battle like the one they had just wrapped up, he counted himself lucky. He'd been cut, broken bones, beaten, tortured, and nearly died of blood-loss more times than he would like to count.

Bruises were not noteworthy.

"Look at that, well, you can't, but honestly, Itachi. It's purple and the size of my palm."

At least she wasn't doing all that soppy cooing over him and such that girls were so prone to doing…but perhaps it was her medic training. She was so cool-headed and efficient at times that Itachi had to admit that he could admire and respect that about her, on the whole professional level anyway.

"I ought to beat that man to a pulp," she muttered under her breath as she made a cursory check of his person for more severe wounds before she returned to the bruise purpling his jaw, hands glowing with that pearly, luminescent green shine that was her healing chakra. "Or I would, if you hadn't gotten to him first. Well," she sighed, her expression wry as she gently sent a stream of chakra through his skin to eradicate the bruise, "I suppose I ought to content myself with the fact that that's _one_ less nuke-nin we can report as permanently out of the bingo books. When are these arrogant, self-absorbed excuses for merchants going to learn that hiring nuke-nin is the worst idea possible?"

And still muttering to herself, Sakura retreated, packing away her medic bag and generally cleaning up their makeshift camp.

"Oh, and by the way," she added, tossing her words over her shoulder, "I could have taken him."

"I know." And he did. Sakura was the Godaime's famed former student, now a member of an elite ANBU squad, and possibly the best medic in all the shinobi nations. But there were some things you _just did_.

And then she was shooting him one of her bright, sunny smiles that made him remember the spring that was part of her namesake. "Thanks anyway, Itachi."

There were some things you just did.

Annihilating a missing-nin who happened to squeeze your girlfriend's butt while she was undercover as a serving wench during a mission was one of them.

_owari_

* * *

Again, my apologies!

Also, a short explanation. Obviously, a missing-nin mishandled Sakura's derriere, something Itachi did not appreciate and proceeded to teach him a lesson for (in a very terminal sort of way). I wrote this because, as nice as it might be to sigh and sob over one's significant other getting a bruised face in a fight for you (cute, romantic, heart-fluttery, you know how it goes), said significant other might not want such a reaction. After all, Itachi is a ninja and a bruise is nothing. Sakura is also a ninja and a medic besides and a bruise is less than nothing. So this is how they react ^^

Please feed the muse (who is also very sorry for her long absence) with some sort of sugar, and thank you to all who reviewed my fics even when I wasn't uploading anything, I did read them and they gave me the urge to wake up my sleeping muse and put something up!

Aria, out.


End file.
